Cool, clear and safe drinking water has begun flowing into the homes of some residents of the Mt. Victory Road area in the southeastern section of Belmont County, ending a more than a 30-year campaign to secure water service in the area. It was once a place where wells produced water that was black and unfit to drink. “The project is about half done. We have sent out letters to 35 residents of the Mt. Victory Road area letting them know they can now connect to the waterline,” explained Mark Esposito, director of the Belmont County Sanitary Sewer District. The finished portion of the project is located between Jacobsburg and Schroder Road. Esposito said within the next couple of weeks the entire project that will service some 160 residents of the Mt. Victory Road area should be completed. “The contractor is disinfecting and pressure testing the waterline to the remaining homes. That should be completed in a couple of weeks.” Work on the 10-mile long waterline was started in October of last year after the Belmont County commissioners awarded the $1.9 million contract to the Ohio-West Virginia Excavating Co. The project was the first in Belmont County to receive funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The county received $1,371,990 in stimulus funds and also a $528,210 loan with a 0 percent interest rate to complete the project. Esposito noted there are other residents benefiting from the waterline project besides those who reside on Mt.